Republicans appeared close to maintaining their one-vote advantage in the Colorado Senate, with two seats in the chamber looking to flip political allegiances and thus canceling each other out, according to unofficial election results posted Wednesday.

At the same time, Democrats looked ready to extend their three-seat control in the state House — 34-31 — portending another two years of split governance at the capitol. Late Wednesday, it appeared Democrats Democrats would claim three more seats in the House.

Democrat Rachel Zenzinger edged out incumbent Laura Woods, R-Arvada, in Senate District 19 by a little more than 1,300 votes out of 76,500 cast. Meanwhile, former Rep. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson, was prevailing in the fight for the Senate District 25 seat that had been held by Democrat Mary Hodge. Priola was leading 53.8 percent to 46.2 percent over Democratic opponent Jenise May Wednesday afternoon in what was a closely watched race.

RJ Sangosti, Denver Post file

The legislature at the Colorado State Capitol.

Zenzinger released a statement early Wednesday saying she was “grateful to those voters who took the time to absorb our middle-of-the-road, commonsense messages in which we emphasized plans for collaboration” in the legislature.

Woods conceded in a call to Zenzinger Wednesday.

“It is a swing district and that’s what it does,” Woods said of the district encompassed by Arvada and Westminster and evenly divided by voter affiliation. “Had Trump done better in Colorado, it would have helped lots of down ticket candidates in Colorado.”

Sen. Kevin Grantham, R-Canon City, said early Wednesday that he expected his party would maintain control of the Senate though he wanted to see final election results before “popping the cork.” He acknowledged being on track to become the next Senate president.

“I’ve got the support I need within the caucus to be president,” he said.

All four legislative caucuses — Republicans and Democrats in both chambers — are scheduled to meet Thursday morning to name their new leadership. The contests for the top jobs are not in question, but multiple lawmakers are seeking other leadership posts.

With Democrats’ efforts to retake the Senate likely over this year, a historic first appeared to be coming up short — that Colorado would be the first state in which both the House and Senate are chaired by a Latina.

“The big thing is the Senate,” Senate minority leader Lucía Guzmán, D-Denver, said Tuesday. “Are we going to get it back or will it remain as it has been, under Republican control?”

The Senate minority leader Lucía Guzmán, D-Denver, would have become that chamber’s president, had the Democrats taken control. House majority leader Rep. Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, is poised to take the speaker’s gavel in the House.

If the Senate had changed hands, Guzmán said she’d have expected the new ruling party to approve an overhaul of the hospital provider fee to allow more state spending on education and transportation. She also hoped to repeal the death penalty. She conceded on Wednesday those efforts now appeared out of the reach with the Republicans keeping their majority in the Senate.

“Some of the things we had on the docket may not move now because they were pretty partisan,” Guzmán said. “But in terms of transportation and some other projects, we’ll have to work together on those things. There are still going to be opportunities to work together.”

Grantham told The Denver Post Tuesday that “our agenda will be certainly similar to what it has been in the last two years.”

“We will be pro-growth, pro-business, pro-economic growth,” he said. “We’re also still looking at tackling some of the extensive regulations in the state that are crippling many of our industries.”

What the close political divisions have done is ensure piles of cash flow into critical campaigns to turn the tides, or, at minimum, maintain the status quo.

Poll watchers agree the single-most critical campaign was in Senate District 19, where Woods and Zenzinger locked horns in a second battle for the seat — Zenzinger had been appointed to the seat and in 2014 lost it to Woods by a single percentage point.

In all, the race is expected to top more than $1 million in campaign spending and has been drawing dollars from liberal mega-donor Tom Steyer on the left and the Koch brothers organization on the right.

As one of the most conservative lawmakers in the Senate chamber, Woods focused on reducing regulation on businesses as well as keeping a check on the Democrat-controlled House. Zenzinger is a former Arvada city councilwoman who wants to put the focus on affordable housing and capping college tuition costs.

Senate District 26, covering parts of Littleton, Englewood, Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village, is critical to the Democrats as it was held by term-limited Democrat Linda Newell. The battle between Republican Nancy Doty, currently an Arapahoe County commissioner, and Democrat Daniel Kagan, was being watched closely. Kagan won 53.2 percent to 46.7 percent for Doty.

Among the House races that are getting attention is the one to replace Kagan. The candidates seeking to succeed him, along with outside groups, have made that one of the most expensive legislative campaigns this year. The western end of the district is home to many blue-collar workers, while wealthier neighborhoods predominate in the east, making the district a definite battle ground.

Vying to replace Kagan in House District 3 are Jeff Bridges, a Democrat who worked for former U.S. Senator Ken Salazar, and Katy Brown, a Republican city councilwoman in Cherry Hills Village. Bridges has been attacked in mailers that portray him as a “beltway insider,” while Brown has been criticized for her support of gun rights, though she says the attacks aren’t a true reflection of her stance because she says she supports Colorado’s 2013 background check law. Bridges won with 52.5 percent of the vote; 47.4 percent of the vote had been cast for Brown.

Incumbent Republican JoAnn Windholz, in House District 30, appeared headed to defeat by Dafna Jenet. Jenet was leading with 52.1 percent of the vote to Windholz’ 47.8 percent tally. Barbara McLachlan appeared to edge out Republican J. Paul Brown in House District 9, leading 50.6 percent to 49.3 percent. Tony Exum Sr. reclaimed the House District 17 seat in El Paso County from the Republican incumbent, Catherine “Kit” Roupe, winning 49.3 percent to 41.5 percent.

Originally from Boston, John Aguilar covers Denver's suburbs for The Denver Post, where he has worked since April 2014. He has also worked at the Boulder County Business Report, the Rocky Mountain News and the Boulder Daily Camera.

David is a member of the Investigations Team and has been at The Denver Post since 1999. He was a founding member of the team before writing about banking, finance, human services, consumer affairs, and business investigations. He has also worked at newspapers in New York, St. Louis and Detroit over a 35-year career that began at The Post.

Christopher N. Osher is a reporter on the investigation team at The Denver Post who has covered law enforcement, judicial and regulatory issues for the news organization. He also has reported from war zones in Africa.

More in Election

Mitt Romney’s extensive resume has many Republicans looking to him to take on a role in the Senate as a political and moral counterweight to a president many in the GOP see as divisive and undignified.

Welcome to The Spot, where The Denver Post’s politics team captures what’s happening this week — from the Colorado legislature to Denver city hall, with a stop through the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.